Note:
A new Collector app is available on Android and iOS. For FAQ about the new app, see FAQ.
The following are some frequently asked questions that authors of data collection maps often have. For data collector FAQ, see FAQ for data collection.
- How do I track the location of my data collectors?
- Does using Collector consume credits?
- How do I enable inclusion of photos during collection?
- How do I restrict the tools available to collectors working with my map?
- Can I use secured layers with Collector?
- Can I work with related records in Collector?
- Is editor tracking supported offline?
- Can my users open Collector from my emails, websites, or apps?
- Is my GPS receiver compatible with Collector?
If you're going to track the location of your collectors when they're working in Collector, include a hosted feature layer created from the Location Tracking template in your map. See Enable tracking in your map in Track where collectors go.
Collector does not consume credits; however, certain functions from ArcGIS Online that can be used in Collector do. For example, in hosted feature layers, adding features consumes Feature Storage credits, and adding photo attachments to features consumes File Storage credits. Also, when using the ArcGIS Online routing service, getting directions in Collector consumes Simple Routes credits. For details about credit consumption for these and other ArcGIS Online functions, see Credits in the ArcGIS Online View status topic.
For collectors to be able to attach photos as they are collecting data, your features need to allow attachments. To enable attachments in your data, you need to access and update the actual data source. For a hosted feature layer, edit the feature layer's details page (see Allow attachments in the ArcGIS Online help). For an ArcGIS Server feature service, enable attachments on the feature class and republish your service (see Enabling attachments in the ArcGIS help).
You can restrict collectors from getting directions (supported on iOS and Android), changing basemaps, and measuring on your map. To restrict any of these capabilities, edit the map's details on your organization's website. See Configure map capabilities for details.
Yes. The following editing scenarios for related features and tables are supported:
- Feature-to-table relationships (one-to-one and one-to-many)
- Feature-to-feature relationships (one-to-one and one-to-many)
- Table-to-table relationships (when the first table is accessed through a feature)
When using related data, it is strongly recommended that you use GlobalIDs when defining relationships. User-maintained relationships are not recommended. See Supported data for details.
Yes, editor tracking is fully supported. See Supported data for offline data requirements.
Yes. By using our custom URL scheme in your app, website, or email, your users can open Collector. You can specify a particular map that should open, and even the location it should center on. If you'd like to start a collection, specify the layer you'd like to add a feature to, as well as any attributes you'd like to set and the value to assign to each attribute. See our GitHub repository for documentation and sample code.
Collector supports internal GPS receivers and external GPS receivers that output NMEA sentences. See GPS receiver support for a list of NMEA sentences that Collector can read and a list of GPS receivers that can be used with Collector on supported iOS devices.